Drier



Dec. 29, 1936. w. CLEMENS 2,066,251

DRIER Filed Oct. 25, 1955 3 l i 17 v INVENTOR Warren Clemens ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES Warren Clemens, Pavilion, N. Y; Application October 125, 1935', lSerialNo. 45,751 1 Claim. (01. 34-38) This invention relates to aidrier, and has for its object more particularly to afford an apparatus' of economical construction and simple in its operation and control, for the drying of beans or othermaterials.

In a more specific aspect, the invention has for its purpose to afford an efiicient arrangement that will dry beans effectively and thoroughly,=

at the same time preventing drying at such a speed as would be detrimental to the product.

A further purpose is to afford an apparatus in which the beans are properly agitated and caused to travel through the drier by gravity, in a manner that subjects them to increasing heat as they progress through the machine and their moisture is exhausted.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the arrangement and construction of parts that will appear clearly from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, the novel features beingpointed out in the claim at the end of the specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a drying apparatus constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation, and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the several views, the structure comprises a supporting frame including uprights I and horizontal connecting portions 2, and within this supporting frame is arranged a gravity conveyor that is constructed in the following manner.

3 designates a housing that is preferably rectangular in cross-section as shown, and is arranged vertically within the supporting frame, said housing being carried by a series of leaf spring members or flexible metal bars 4, the upper end of each of which is fixedly connected to one of the cross members 2 of the sup-porting frame, while the lower end of each leaf spring member 4 is rigidly connected tothe adjacent side wall of the housing 3.

Preferably there are two sets of such spring supporting elements, one at the top of the housing 3 and one at the bottom thereof, and it will be observed that these spring members 4 suspend the housing 3 from the supporting frame and hold it firmly in place, affording a stiff but yieldable suspension, the resiliency of the spring members 4 being such as to permit the necessary back and forth .horizontal movement of they housing 3, which is imparted ina manner that will be described presently.

The housing 3 is provided interiorly with a se- 5 ries of perforate baflies 5 and 6, which may be of sheet metal or wire screen material, or otherwise constructed to support the material passing through and to permit movement of air upwardly through the baffles for drying. The

bafiies 5 and 6 are arranged in staggered relation and inclined preferably at about the angle shown, each bafiie terminating at its lower end at a point spaced from but in close proximity to the adjacent wall of the housing and to the adjacent portion of the bafiie immediately below.

This arrangement of the baflies causes the desired continuous movement of the product to be dried from top to bottom and at the same time prevents the passage of any substantial proportion of the upwardly moving air around the ends of the bafiies and forces such air currents to travel through the central portions of the baffles and thereby to impart a maximum drying effect to the beans or other material traveling downwardly.

The housing is provided with an inlet opening- I and hopper 8 at the top through which the beans or other material is fed into the drier and an outlet 9 at the bottom from which they are delivered into any suitable receptacle. I0 designates an air inlet at the bottom 'of the housing, the same being connected by a flexible joint II with a conduit I2 into which heated air is forced from any convenient source of supply. nates a vertical deflector at the bottom of the housing to direct the incoming current of air upwardly through the horizontal bafiies 5 and 6, while I4 designates an air outlet provided at the top of the housing through which the damp cool 4 air is exhausted.

The housing 3 is actuated back and forth during the drying operation by any suitable mechanism, in order to impart a shaking action to the baflies and cause the beans or other'material to travel by gravity over the several baffles successively from the top to the bottom of the housing. This may be accomplished by a vertically arranged rotatable shaft I5 suitably journalled on the supporting frame I in parallel relation to the housing 3 and provided with a pulley I6 to which a belt may be applied for rotating the shaft I5.

I! designates a plurality of cranks pivotally connected to a side wall of the housing 3 and operatively associated with the shaft I5 by means of eccentrics l8, or otherwise, so that rotation of the shaft [5 imparts the necessary horizontal backand forth movement to the housing 3. designates a series of pivoted doors in a side wall of the housing to permit access, when desired, to the interior thereof and to the spaces between the adjacent baflies 5 and 6 for cleaning or remembers 4, andduring this shaking movement of the housing andbafiles, the beans or other ma terial introduced through the inlet 1, travel downwardly through the housing over the baflles 5 and 6 alternately, passing outwardly through the opening 9 at the bottom of the housing. At the same time,-air is forced into the'bottom of the housing through the opening I!) and travels thence-upwardly through the central zones of thebafiles and outwardlyiat the'op'ening l4 at the'top'of'the housing; a

W th this arran ement, the beans as. they enter themach'ine when in their dampest condition first contact with the coolest air, and as they ,travel downwardly and become drier, they meet currents of air which are increasingly hotter and drier, the driest beans being met at the bottom of thejhousing-by the air in its hottest and driest condition. With this arrangement and procedure, slow drying of the beans is assured, that is to say, they are'not subjected when'in a damp 7 state to excessively hot air that would otherwise split, damage, or deteriorate the product, and

when the beans emergefrom the bottom of the housing, they are thoroughly dried. The structure permits a continuous operation at a low cost, and requires litle attention on thepart of I the operator. 7

While the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it is not confined to the details shown and described, and

this application is intended to cover such modiflcations as may come within the contemplated purposes of the improvement or the scope of the I following claim.

Iclaim:

'A drier comprising a supporting frame includinguprights and horizontal connecting portions spaced one above the other, of ahousing closed on four sides and inclined perforate baffles arfranged in staggered relation in said housing one above the other,.each of saidbafiles extending v along three wallsof the housing and being spaced,

from one wall thereof, said housing having an inlet at the top and an outlet at the bottom for material to be dried and an air inlet at the bottom, a source of hot air supply, a flexible connection between saidsource of hot air supply and said air inlet, leaf spring suspension members rigidly attached to said horizontal cor'inecting portionsof the frame and having their lower:

ends rigidly attached to the housingatpoints near the top andbottom thereof, said leaf spring members being relatively short anddisposed with 6 7 their flat surfaces at right angles to the direction of movement of the housing, a vertically dis posed rotary shaft mounted on s'aidsupporting frame, and operating meansconnecting said shaft with the housing at points near the top and bot-. tom of the latter for imparting horizontal movement thereto.

WARREN CLEMENS. 

